The bad news is that I’ve been denied tenure at Chicago. It came as a complete surprise, I hadn’t anticipated any problems at all. But apparently there are a few of our faculty who don’t think much of my research. A stylistic clash, I imagine. And a handful of dissenters is all it takes to derail a tenure case. I don’t think there are many people in the outside world who believe that the University of Chicago is better off without me than with me, but there seems to be an anomalously high concentration of them among my own colleagues.
So now I am on the job market again. Which is sad, both because of the intrinsically demoralizing nature of the job market, and because I cannot tell you how much I love this city and the friends I have made here. It truly feels like home to me. But I’m hopeful of getting a position at some other great place and flourishing there — doing well is the best revenge.
In the meantime, though, blogging will likely be a low priority. I’m not going to stop, but my former ambition to put something up every day (no matter how lame) is going to be set aside as I concentrate on other things.
Further updates as events warrant.